Necessities - Regardless of Budget

There are certain things one must have to cook well that never seem to be accounted for when experts advise on a frugal/economical food budget.  Spices can blow best intentions out of the water -- but cooking without them makes no sense.  These three containers added $14 to the bill -- and all three were needed in the same week!  So, what's a frugal shopper to do?  Easy -- buy ethnic versions, which tend to cost less but are just as good as the traditional supermarket brands.  These are often not found with the other spices -- check in the ethnic aisle.  Latin, Asian and Indian sections are the place to go.

There is no one/universal cooking oil -- but one thing we use a lot of, is Olive Oil.  The blend is great for sauteing and greasing baking sheets.  The EVOO is used for flavor -- dressings, recipes, etc.  The Violi product is $3.99 -- a great price.  It's olive and safflower oil.  We give this to the dog too!

Cento makes a good EVOO and we go through a bottle every two to three weeks.  In order to avoid spoilage, we buy 1 liter bottles.   That works from a usage and space perspective.  Price Rite sells this for $6.99.  The micro-kitchen needed the oils and spices in the same week!  In order to save on the oil, a coupon that offered a buck off any single item over five dollars, with a minimum order of $20 was used.

In one week, an extra twenty five dollars alone was required to buy "ingredients."  This type of thing is not easy to budget for, so just suck it up and try to do the best job possible looking for price reduction opportunities and lesser known brands.  After all, it's not economical to avoid the ingredients that make meals taste good.